Special Alert: Boats, Bias and Big Lies

In some of the latest video footage released by the IDF, it is clear that the Israeli naval commandos were certainly unprepared for the violence they encountered, including being attacked with live fire.

- Real weapons, real weapons!

- They have real weapons?

- Yes, yes, real weapons. They are firing on us!

It’s not too late to counter the wave of anti-Israel sentiment unleashed by the events surrounding the boarding of the Turkish Mavi Marnara ship and the deaths of nine of its passengers. For the claims of so-called “peace activists” that they were unarmed and non-violent victims of Israeli brutality is laughable in the face of the openly available video evidence taken during the incident.

for some of the foreign press, who had been less willing to accept [IDF Spokesman] Benayahu’s improbable account of commandos overpowered by civilians, the footage was a revelation.

“I saw it, and I realized I had done Israel an injustice,” one of my foreign colleagues said on Monday, with admirable candor. “At that point, and only at that point, I understood what the Israelis had been saying.”

The IDF videos reveal the truth about what took place. But we can’t rely on the media to spread the word to the general public. We must make every effort to forward the videos and updates to our networks and post them across the Internet.

Media Unable to Ignore the Evidence

When confronted with the compelling video evidence, many media outlets (though not all) have been unable to bat away the images of Israeli soldiers attacked with clubs, iron poles and knives.

Since when do “peace activists” have access to sophisticated night vision equipment, rifle scopes and bullet proof vests? These photos taken by the IDF of items found on board the Mavi Marnara would indicate that the portrayal of non-violent humanitarians interested only in distributing aid to Gaza is thoroughly inaccurate.

The equipment, along with the clubs and knives found by the IDF on board the Mavi Marnara is evidence of the premeditated nature of the violence perpetrated by those on board.

The photo above shows one of the electric saws used to saw metal rods off of the Marnara’s deck. These rods were used to attack the Israeli soldiers boarding the ship.

Activists even threw stun grenades as this footage shows.

In addition, large quantities of cash were found on board ready to be transferred to Hamas upon landing in Gaza. The Turkish IHH organization responsible for the Mavi Marnara is an open supporter of Hamas and has been implicated in the recruitment and funding of Islamic terrorism, including al-Qaeda. (See here for more information.)

What Happens Now?

The flotilla’s cargo is being off-loaded in Ashdod and the humanitarian items transferred overland to Gaza in accordance with standard operating procedures while the participants of the flotilla are to be repatriated as expediently as possible.

Israel does not prevent aid from reaching Gaza via established land-based crossings and there is no lack of humanitarian aid to the Strip. Israel repeatedly proposed that the flotilla organizers land in the port of Ashdod and transfer their aid to Gaza through the existing overland crossings. Had the aid been delivered directly to Ashdod in the first place, as Israel offered, the entire tragic incident could have been avoided.

What YOU Can Do NOW

Helping Israel in the battle for public opinion is easier than you think:

Help promote our material by encouraging just five (or as many as possible!) of your friends to subscribe to HonestReporting to receive our regular updates by sending them this link.

Simply clicking on the above videos, posting them on your Facebook accounts and other social media sites helps to elevate and spread them virally.

Use our previous Special Alert for
additional video material as well as talking points and information concerning the Gaza flotilla incident as well as listening to our latest podcast (through YouTube).

This particular crisis is not yet over but together we can make a difference to the outcome. HonestReporting will continue to keep you updated on breaking developments and new material as it becomes available.

For more, head to Backspin, HonestReporting’s blog site, which is live blogging the situation as it develops.